Revanche
by Styx78
Summary: The story of the SS Revanche, a freighter that operates across the Federation, Klingon, and Romulan zones of influence. Takes place about 5 years after the stories of Star Trek: Online.
1. Chapter 1

Revanche

"Did you know that the average shot glass in the Federation is one point five fluid ounces?" Cody asked. He was always full of trivial information, but when one really needed to know something, he would find himself suddenly lacking. "On the other hand, anything larger than one point two five fluid ounces in the Klingon Empire is not considered a shot. They figure that if it's really potent enough, it should fit in that lower amount, or it's not even worth taking."

"Fascinating," I replied, though I didn't really find it so.

Cody continued, "You know, most people think everything about the Klingons is 'bigger.' Kind of like an ancient Texas. But there are a great many things that they enjoy in smaller amounts than Humans or especially Ferengi."

I threw one more shot down before stacking it on the top of our impressive pyramid atop the too-small table in front of us. The waiter kept coming by and offering to take the glasses away, but we would shoo her (him? It?) away. Most of the shots had been absorbed by Cody, but I had enough to make it respectable.

The pub we were in wasn't particularly nice in any way, but it was the kind that was always busy, which was the perfect place for our business. Most of the clientele were Arin'Sen, so we stuck out a little as the only beings without ridges on our foreheads. They were a paranoid bunch, having been on the border between the Federation and the Klingon Empire for centuries, now. Klingons once took over their planet and stripped it of its resources, and the Arin'Sen had to flee. The Federation moved the remaining refugees to a new planet. However, that planet proved too hostile for them to survive. Thus, the Arin'Sen have scattered out. A race without a homeworld.

A long bar table stretched out from the doorway, crowding people coming in or out, so as to try to keep people from running off without paying their tabs. Right now, there was only one lady sitting in a corner by that door. She had a bottle in front of her, but she hadn't touched it. From there, she could see the whole room. She kept her black hood low, but just a bit of blue skin from her chin showed, and small bumps at the top of the hood didn't do a good job of hiding her antennae.

Cody had been going on for several more minutes about Ferengi size measurements, but I hadn't been paying attention. Cody was a good man. Born on Mars, his ancestors had been a part of the first colonists who helped terraform the planet. Dark skinned, dark haired, he had just a bit of what Earthers called a "British Accent." When he paused, I nodded and said "uh huh."

"You weren't listening to a word I said, now, were you?" he asked.

"Uh huh." I responded.

"C'mon, good man, how –"

Cody started to get annoyed, but I was saved by the bell. My transceiver in my ear crackled and a soft voice whispered " _Target is coming in_."

I nodded to the doorway where two Nausicaans push through. Like many in their race, they were big and strong. Ugly, by human standards, their mouths opened and closed in different directions and they had ridges. I would have to ask Cody sometime if they were related to Klingons in some way.

"What in the _A'gauth_ is that smell?" yelled the biggest the two. His name was Naurishe and we'd had dealings before. They always started the same way – "Oh, look. Humans. Keep, you may want to disinfect that table when they leave."

He pushed his way through the crowd of Arin'Sen and made his way to the table. Cody made his way to my right, seemingly to give the Nausicaans room, but really it was so he could keep his phaser ready and his back away from the duo.

"Naurishe," I said, nodding my head as a way of greeting. I held up my shot glass and offered it them, "Can I get you boys a drink?"

I couldn't remember the other Nausicaan's name. I would have guessed, but it might not have been the first time I had seen him, and Nausicaans are easily insulted when one gets their name incorrectly. He swatted in the air and spit on the floor. "Human piss," he mumbled.

"Why do you insist on making a big entrance when you're supposed to be handling secret information?" Cody asked. "Wouldn't it be better if you just snuck in?"

"We always make a big entrance," Naurishe answered as he turned the seat backwards and sat with his legs wide apart. "If we didn't, then they would know something is up."

"You got it, then?" I asked.

"I want to see the 10,000," Naurishe shot back. "That's a lot of platinum. I don't see a bag."

"You think we're stupid enough to bring 5,000 in a pub?" Cody answerd. "Money's in a safe spot, which we'll tell you _after_ you give us the money."

"I don't trust you," Naurishe replied.

"Our boss has always come through," I answered. "And the price that was agreed on was 5,000, not 10,000."

"Yeah, well, we had some issues getting it here," the other Nausicaan answered. "KDF is doing extra checks. Has more checkpoints set up."

"You should have considered that when you were negotiating the price," I answered. "If it's a trust issue, we can take you to the money, but we want to verify the information, first."

 _"Boys…"_ a soft voice came through the communicator in my ear. _"We may have extra company."_

"KDF is on its way, right now," Cody said. He crossed his arm and showed that annoying smirk he has when he knows he's right about something.

Just as he finished, four large Klingons came in wearing full regalia and carrying a variety of weapons. They didn't call out or announce themselves, but the pub went silent, anyway. Nearly all eyes turned to the warriors.

"All right, 5,000," Naurishe whispered. "But you have to take it right now."

"3,000," I answered. "That thing is hotter than either of us thought."

"We _negotiated,"_ he hissed.

The Klingons spread out across the bar. They hadn't spotted us, yet, but as soon as they saw two Nausicaans and two humans, they would make their way right over to us.

"Three is our last offer," I said. I put on my best poker face. Truth was, I was scared. Cody is a pretty good shot, but I don't think we could take on all 4 by ourselves. We needed the information and if I went back to the boss empty handed, he'd be pretty upset.

"Three," the other Nauscaan answered, sliding a yellow square across the table. It was transparent and light. A data disk like they used to use on Starships over 200 years ago before subspace communications were perfected. I picked up the disk, handed it to Cody and slid a small data pad with a map on it.

"You better get out of here," I said, nodding towards the back of the room where the exit doors were. Without a word, the two go up and quickly shuffled through the crowd and out the back.

"What is that smell?" one of the Klingons yelled out as he spotted us from a few tables away. "Hoo-man piss?"

"That joke just never gets old," Cody sighed. "I very much doubt with noses like that, they can smell us, anyway."

The four moved together until they came up at our table. The largest stood just ahead of the others, with his arms crossed over the many decorations on his uniform.

"Gentlemen, how about some rum for the glory of the Empire?" I asked, holding up the last shot.

The leader bent over the table and then slapped away the glass. The whole room was silent, as everyone watched the shakedown. They may all laugh at how humans smell, but up close, that strong musky Klingon scent can even overcome a bar full of alien smells.

"What are Feddie scum like you doing this far past the Neutral Zone?" the leader asked.

"Whoa, now, hold on – " Cody started.

"Yeah, we're not Federation," I finished. "Not even close. We're just average joes making a delivery."

"I thought all hoo-mans were in your pathetic military," the leader hissed. "You don't even have enough honor to join up and fight?"

"Kraug, how do we know they're not spies," another of the Klingons asked.

" _Will,"_ my ear piece crackled. _"I have a clear shot at the two on your right."_

"Look, Kraug" I said in my best calming voice, "The war has been over for at least five years, now, right? Can't we just let bygones be bygones and have a drink together."

"A good strong Klingon Blood Wine to celebrate the days when we all hated each other?" Cody asked.

"Which, of course, is not today?" I tried.

The Klingons all looked at us as if we our universal translator was broken.

"All you do is talk," the Klingon huffed. "Do you never— "

I didn't let him finish the sentence. This was going nowhere. We were going to fight sometime, so I wanted it to be on my terms. I kicked the table in front of me as hard as I could into the air, sending our nice little pyramid of shot glasses into the air, and into the faces of the Klingons. It wouldn't hurt them much, but it would get in the way of their vision as Cody and I pushed into them and sent them falling over backwards.

A flash of bright blue light filled the bar for a moment as our lovely First Mate fired from her corner by the doorway, stunning the two Klingons on our right and taking them out of the fight.

Cody and I jumped over the bar and dashed out just behind our blue-skinned compadre. Screams filled the air and the hallway was jammed as the crowd didn't want to be around for the inevitable KDF clean-up that would come. No one attacks Klingon forces and gets away with it—at least not out here.

Cody and I stuck close, we didn't want to get separated, but I lost our Angel in the crowd. For a blue skinned, white haired beauty, she can blend in really well when she wants.

Cody kept yelling something to me, but I couldn't make it out above the crowd's shouts. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down a very tight alleyway between two large buildings. That was when I heard Zara, our Andorian, yelling in my earpiece.

" _There are at least six following. They're beating anyone they find and asking for the humans. Do you want me to move to intercept and cover you?"_

"No!" I yelled. I didn't really have time to think the situation over. It may have been better to have her climb up and watch over us, calling out locations, but we weren't here for a fight, we were here to avoid a fight as much as possible. "Get to the Bug! Get her prepped and ready. Cody and I are apparently taking the scenic route."

"Don't stop for icicles," Zara answered. I never understood her sense of humor.

Cody and I slid down the alley and came out on a much quieter street. This could be good or bad. Good because that mean the Klingons weren't here, but bad because there was no crowd to blend in with. We hurried across the street and headed "south" towards the docking bays.

This wasn't a planet. We were in the middle of a giant asteroid with enormous transparent aluminum domes surrounding the city. The city was run down and full of dilapidated buildings. The perfect place to have secret meetings, but also the type of place that police forces often check for criminals. Gravity nets kept us all at around 1G, but KDF had been known to turn those nets off and let everyone float around while they find their prey.

Cody and I were out of breath as we found the end of the street. There was no star out here to heat the system, so it was always night-time. When the street lights were down, it was especially dark. We stopped for a moment and leaned against the wall. Only a few blocks left, but we didn't want to rush out into some sort of trap.

"Listen" Cody said between deep breaths. There was yelling in the distance and the sound of some sort of animal barking, but it all felt close.

"What?" I asked.

"Footsteps. Behind us."

The darkness was temporarily lifted as disruptor fire flashed past the two of us. We took off around the corner and didn't look back. The yelling was louder as the KDF no doubt figured out where the Hoo-mans were.

We dodged and weaved from one alley to the next, but if the Klingons had any sense, they knew which way we were headed. Fortunately, they didn't know what type of vehicle we had.

I came around the final corner from the alley and into the main road to the dock. No one followed right behind us, but it would only be a short matter of time. Cody hightailed it past me, his ancient type-2 phaser in his hand ready if needed. I had kept my two disruptors in their hiding places so as to concentrate more on running.

More disruptor blasts passed us as we hustled through the many cargo ships and shuttles parked around the dock. The yells in Klingon were growing louder. At least THEY were enjoying the hunt.

Two large red doors open with a red light from the entrance glaring out into the center runway region. Bug. Our best transportation was an old Romulan landing shuttle that we fixed up. It had a small front compartment where one person piloted the vehicle, but a large back with two half domes that came together. They opened up and closed much like how a ladybug opens and closes its wings. So, because we are just brilliant at coming up with names, we simply started calling her "bug."

Cody jumped in and pushed the close button, giving me just enough time to slid in and look back at our pursuers. KDF was coming at us from all sides, firing disruptors. Fortunately, Bug's outer shell was pretty damn tough.

"Hold on back there, it's going to get bumpy!" Zara yelled from the cockpit. Her hood was down and her bright white hair fell down to her shoulders as her antennae wiggled around. They did that when she felt pressure or anxiety.

The pings on the shell grew louder as Zara took us up into the air. Thank goodness we installed more powerful inertia dampers on this baby or we would have been flat on the floor or splatted against the back. Zara wasn't taking any time pulling us away from the dock.

I could hear the chatter over the comm as Zara took us straight down the tube – the way in and out of the asteroid—and the dock workers were scrambling. Just as I was wondering where the Klingon's ship was, it appeared just outside the tube.

"Oh-ho," Zara said, the anxiety in her unsteady voice making it crack just a little. "You guys might want to hang on, this is going to get ugly."

"How ugly?" Cody yelled from the back.

"Like, We're-going-to-blow-up-and-die ugly," Zara answered.

"You got this," I wanted to say. I like to think I'm more brave or strong than I really am. Instead, I just took a deep breath and watched her pilot us through the tube and out past the Bird-of-Prey. Fortunately, they didn't know who we were, yet, but that would change quickly.

"Revanche?" I asked into the comm. "Tsal? You awake out there?"

" _Roger, roger, big daddy,"_ Tsal responded. She had once watched an old Earth vid with truckers talking back and forth on those old radios, and she loved it. Ever since, we try to keep her away from communications. "Hear ya loud and clear."

"Get the ship ready to go, Tsal! We're going to be landing in just a few seconds and when we land, I want the Revanche at full warp speed!"

"Smokey on yer tail?" Tsal asked. Cody gave me the strangest look. He hadn't seen the vid with us. Plus, it's just really strange hearing a Vulcan trying to speak with a Southern North American accent.

"Something like that," I answered. "We may have a crew of pissed-off KDF coming after us on a heavy Bird-of-Prey."

"Oh, that's why they were here," Tsal answered. She dropped her accent for a moment, and the familiar light touch of her voice came back out. "I'll let Ukrall know to get the engines warmed up."

Zara did a great job of moving us fast, but not suspiciously fast. About the time we were able to coast in the rear hanger bay and touch down, the comms exploded with angry Klingon voices. They knew what they were looking for. They remembered seeing a small red ship go past. And they knew what general direction it was headed.

I stepped out from Bug and looked out at the open hanger doors just in time to see the stars stretch out and snap back. We hit Warp. The fastest this ship could do was 7, so the KDF could over take us, but we only needed to keep ahead of them for an hour until we crossed the Neutral zone into Federation Territory, then they would have to back off. As long as they didn't ID us, it would be okay. Most of the business we did was in Klingon and Romulan space, and it was expensive to have to forge new documents for business in those territories.

Cody tapped Bug's rear doors lovingly and smiled wide, showing those big white teeth of his. "She came through again," he laughed. "I hope whatever we got from Naurishe was worth it."

"Yeah, me, too," I sighed. We weren't completely out of danger, but it felt much safer than it had a short while ago.

Zara walked past us without a word and moved towards the front of the ship. She seemed angry, but then, she always seemed angry.

"You better get up to the bridge before Tsal pilots us into a black hole or something," I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. Now that the stress was off, I could feel the aches and pains of advancing age catching up to me. Heck, I was only 35, so I shouldn't have felt that way at all, but then, I had lived an interesting life.

Cody nodded and started towards the doors. We had no turbolift of any kind, our ship consisting of only three decks.

Before he passed through, he stopped and turned to me "Will?" he asked. "You think maybe it's time we got some more people? I mean, this ship can hold up to 40. It's kind of wearing us out keeping it crewed with only five."

I nodded. "Gotta see what the boss says," was all I could think to say. I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.


	2. Chapter 2

\- 2 -

Though it was an old Romulan Griffin Class Starship, one could be forgiven if they didn't recognize it as such. Zara and I found it in mothballs of a neutral scrap yard near the Romulan/Klingon border. There had been a lot of choices available. Most of the ships in the scrap yard were in better shape. However, we knew we had found the perfect ship, and set out at once to fix her up.

We got rid of the green coating Romulans love so much, and added shuttle bays on the dorsal "underside" of the ship, allowing more cargo to be carried on board. The "wings" were fitted with magnetic clamps so the ship could simply pick up and carry large cargo crates. At only 4 total decks running horizontally across the ship, it could be crewed with as few as four beings, or it could accommodate up to forty.

Of course, the weapons and cloaking device had been taken out before the ship had been sent to the scraps, but for some reason, they left in the shields. One less thing to work on. Military strength, too, so that was a bonus.

Romulan warp engines are based around creating mini black holes and using the time-space signatures that emanated in order to push through space. Romulans claimed it was clean and made their ships faster than UFP or KDF ships, but it was likely exaggerated. I had experience with the type of Warp the Romulans used, but I wasn't an expert. My background was limited to mostly navigation and logistics, where Zara was more of an expert on weapons and defense. We needed someone who could push our ship past the Warp 3 I had been able to pull the ship to. That was when we found Ukrall.

Ukrall was a Klingon who had been kicked out of the Empire. Why? I don't know. An early rule we made when we first put together our little operation under the boss was that no one had to talk about their past. Already, the first three crew members had plenty to hide, so we didn't feel it necessary to try to pour out the past from anyone else. All we knew was that Ukrall understood Black Hole Theory (BHT) Engines, and he could get ours past Warp 6, almost to 7. He was a skilled engineer, and he liked working on the engine. He didn't care about honor, blood, or fighting, so it wasn't too hard to guess why he wasn't in the Empire, any longer.

Not long after we put the ship together and found Ukrall, I ran into some trouble trying to get pass through a restricted area in Feddy space. I didn't know it was restricted, there was no posting, but apparently it was a big no-no. I found myself inside the brig of an old Galaxy Class starship, wondering if they were going to figure out who I was and what I had been up to. Normally, I stayed clear of Feddy space, but just this once I had to pass through, and my luck held out. It was there that I found Codrich Hamilton. Cody for short. He had the same problem, trying to get through Feddy Space where nothing had been marked and was pulled in the brig. Cody couldn't go more than 20 seconds without talking, lied about big schemes he had pulled off, and drank way too much. So, of course we became fast friends. I didn't ask him about his past, and he didn't ask me about mine, so we got along fine. When the Feddies kicked us out of the brig and back to Bug, Cody found his ship was so broken down it wouldn't even operate. I invited him aboard and he's been with us since. Good thing, too, he's the best pilot I've seen in all my time navigating through the Alpha Quadrant.

Of course, bringing Cody on board the Revanche without checking with Zara was going to be a problem, and I knew it. Fortunately, at the same time, she had found someone that she wanted to bring on board, as well. I don't know how they met, or what the story was, but Zara showed up to the Revanche one evening as it was docked and introduced me to a young Vulcan named Tsal.

If we were having a contest to see who was the most odd, Tsal would win, hands-down. Vulcans are usually uptight, quiet, and rather haughty. They expunged emotion and basically just tried to be better than the rest of us. Tsal, on the other hand, was just wired differently. She wore her hair long, covering her ears, and though she was tiny, she often took up a lot of room anywhere she was. She reminded me of a free spirited person who loved art but couldn't hold a job. She loved to paint and draw, and though she was talented, I couldn't quite figure out where she fit in our crew. Tsal tended to just do the jobs none of us wanted to do, like helping clean and cook, but she could also rewire a complex communications system. If we couldn't figure out how to fix something, we usually asked Tsal, and she would figure it out. Tsal and Ukrall hung out together in Engineering a lot, but I didn't think they were a couple or anything. Whereas Tsal was kind of high-energy crazy, Ukrall was low energy and by the numbers.

The bridge of the Revanche was designed for four people. Knowing our limitations, we redesigned her so that two of us could operate the ship from there. And, most of the time, we usually just had one person. The ship didn't have a view screen, instead having windows that arced around the room with overlaid holographic displays, so we installed smaller holographic screens at the two stations. One station, the Navigation and Communications was at the front of the confined room, while Command and Engineering was higher up and at the rear. Generally, we retrofitted it to hold one or two people. So, of course, all five of us were crammed in there as we came up on our destination.

"Deep Space 9, this is the SS Revanche, requesting clearance, copy?" Zara said into her headset as she pulled up a map of the docking ring. Cody sat at the Captain's chair and guided the ship at the posted speed around the station until we received orders.

We were used to the size of the station, looking out at the large arcs that reached far overhead and far below the "horizon" of the station, so that wasn't what brought everyone up here. Rather, it was the ship docked at one of the arcs.

"An Odyssey Class?" Tsal asked as she craned her head against the window to look up and see the ship. "Don't see them too often docked here."

"Wouldja look at the size of that thing?" Ukrall asked as he leaned around Tsal to see as well. "One warp nacelle is bigger than our entire ship."

I was trying to act all cool and unimpressed, but I couldn't hide it well. I tapped the necessary buttons and brought it up on the tactical hologrid, showing our ship passing under the titan. Ukrall was right, it was massive.

 _"Revanche, you have clearance to docking bay 6,"_ DS9 finally replied. _"Warning, stay away from docks 9-12. There is a situation with Refugees that requires safety protocols to be put in place. Crossing those protocols could result in arrest."_

"Copy that, DS9, we'll steer clear," Zara answered. Cody steered the ship until the docking tractor beams took over. One by one, members of the crew left the bridge back to their quarters to get the things they needed before going on station. We all had jobs to do, people to see before we pushed out again. No one knew how long that would be, but our boss didn't like us sitting around too long, so we took care of whatever needs we had as quickly as possible.

Ukrall would go to different scrap shops and engineering shops to find parts we needed so our ship wouldn't blow up. Cody was great at disappearing. I suspected he hid in bars and had fun with women. This would make Zara upset, as she didn't condone such behavior, but on the flip side, she didn't trust him with money or with making modifications to the ship, so it was better to let him go.

Tsal didn't leave the ship. Ever. I wanted to ask her why, but "Protocol 1," as we called it overrode my curiosity. We never ask about the past. My guess was that Zara knew, yet she trusted Tsal, so that was good enough by me. Likely, Tsal had a criminal past, or someone was looking for her. Again, so long as it wasn't a danger to the ship, no problem by me.

"You ready?" Zara asked with a sigh. She slung her bag over her shoulder and trudged down the hallway towards the dock. Her white hair had grown quite long since I had first met her, so she tied it up. Not sure why she didn't cut it, most Andorians liked to keep their hair short.

I thought about grabbing my bag, but I didn't want to commit to finding a dorm to sleep in on board the station. Unlike the others, I didn't get "ship sickness," – a condition where one simply HAS to get off the ship. I liked my quarters, and I had a great bed to sleep in, so I was pretty sure I would come back. Instead, I typed my code into the safe on the bridge, pulled out the yellow data disc and followed my first mate out of the ship.

Deep Space Nine was technically "home" for us, though we were registered with the Frengi Union. Since Frengnar is now a part of the Federation, I guess that made us a part of the Federation, but we refused to recognize it. The Feddies were so busy cleaning up after the last war, they didn't have the time to mess with an old freighter like ours. Besides, our boss knew more ways to avoid regulation and inspections than anyone else I'd ever known.

DS9 always had a strange scent to it. The odors of many different aliens mixed and mingled, and most were pretty awful, so the computer overcompensated with a jasmine-like scent that clung to anyone on the Promenade. We walked past most of the shops and turned in at one bar in particular. It was very nice, run by a hologram, which was, of course, a front for the real business.

We pushed past the back doors with a nod from the barkeep, and walked past several scanners that checked us for weapons or other nefarious instruments that could be used to attack the man running the show.

"Well, well," said Quark as we entered the luxurious office. "If it isn't my favorite Captain, and most definitely, his lovely, and beautiful Number One."

"Stuff it," Zara huffed as she laid the bag down on a couch and slumped into it.

"You see?" Quark asked as he poured a drink and pointed at her. "The treatment I get? She could still be a nav officer on some ugly hulk of a transport, but no. Instead, thanks to my kindness and generosity, she gets to run her own show."

"We make you a large profit," I interrupted before Zara could start cussing at our boss. "Doesn't matter what we look like, does it?"

"Well, that's just the icing on the k'ultho," Quark sighed. "Did you get it?"

I pulled out the yellow data disc and slid it across his desk. "Wasn't as easy as you said. KDF were there, and I think they were tipped off on what to look for."

"Yeah, well, this thing will make me another fortune, so, trust me, it was worth whatever trouble you had," Quark grinned as he picked up the disc and slid it into an old processor.

"We should probably stay away from Klingon territory for a while," I replied as I took a glass and filled it with some of the golden liquid in Quark's bottle. I didn't know what it was, but he always had the good stuff back here.

"Well, I don't have anything for you to run, right now," Quark responded. He was rubbing his hands together as he watched the processor decrypt the data disc. "Of course, I would have plenty of things for you to run if you were willing to travel through Federation Space."

"No Feddies," Zara hissed. "That's our rule."

"It's a rule that is costing you a lot of money, beautiful," Quark smiled. "As much as I get frustrated by all the red tape in Federation space, they do pay well when they have to. The silly idea of working for pleasure rather than for profit means they can pad my profit even more than other societies. Who knew universal peace could make a Ferengi so wealthy."

Zara shook her head, her arms crossed and stood. "I'm going to go and make sure Ukrall or Cody haven't gotten us into trouble."

Quark and I watched her leave. "Is she always like that?" he asked me.

"No," I answered. "Every now and again, she forgets to be angry and lets her guard down. I actually saw her smile before we went to the AQ 5 belt."

"So…I have to ask, why haven't you given her a reason to be happy?" Quark asked, that ugly little glint in his eye.

"You know I have my reasons," I answered.

"C'mon, Will, we've known each other for a long time," Quark laughed. "Ever since that Prison Colony, I've never seen you look at anything. Girls, guys, and everything in between, it's like you just aren't capable of love. Or, better, lust."

I decided to quickly change the subject. "So, what was so wonderful on that card that it got me into a bar fight with the KDF?"

"Corn," Quark answered as lines of code popped up on his screen.

"Corn?" I asked.

Quark shivered and shook his head. "Nasty stuff, I know. Can't stand human food, but it's loved elsewhere in the galaxy. What you have brought me on this little disc is future tradings on corn on the Xalia Exchange. Crops were good, this year, so everyone expects the prices to go up, but, if you can grease the right palms, you can get the true information. Ah, as I expected, the drought on Xalia 2 was worse than expected. You just saved me a quarter of a million in latinum, my friend. Of course, I'll see to it that you are rightly compensated for your help."

"Corn?" I asked again. "We could have been blown up by a Bird-of-Prey over corn?"

"You know how many ships I have in my Logistics fleet?" Quark asked.

"10?" I ventured.

"22," he answered. "Yet, despite some of them actually having good crews, I chose you for this special assignment which will make both of us money. You know why I picked you?"

"Because we never say no to you?" I ventured again.

"No, it's because you're the best," Quark answered.

"That's not hard to fathom," I answered. I had worked on two other frigates that operated under Quark Enterprises. It was a miracle neither ship had blown up on their own, yet.

"Most Ferengi wouldn't have given you a chance," Quark continued. "When a human and an Andorian come and ask for help, most would shake their heads and laugh. But, I didn't."

"The fact that I saved your life several times probably had something to do with it," I sighed as I sat down and rubbed the back of my head. A headache was coming on.

"No, no," Quark answered. "I gave you a job on _Quark's Treasure_ as a way of saying thanks for that. I gave the two of you a ship because I believed in you."

I wanted to say a lot of things. The first word that came to mind was "Bull-" but I was too tired.

"Look, instead of giving us some of the compensation from the Corn trade, how about you give us the one thing we've been asking for a long while, now?" I asked.

"Hey, now, I'M not the one keep you from getting more crew. That's on you."

"If we split up our shares any more, there won't be enough for everyone to continue. Part of what keeps a good crew together is good money. I need you to give us a little more of the share to spread around so I can actually afford more crew without taking money from the rest of the crew."

"I thought you picked that old Romulan piece of junk so that you could keep the crew numbers down?" Quark asked.

"It's a good ship, and yes, that was one of the reasons we chose it, but c'mon, Quark, we're exhausted," I answered. "We can't keep doing things if we're too exhausted to work any longer. We'll miss something or make a bad decision, then you're having to explain why one of your ships endangered a whole planet or a space station."

Quark sighed and turned away from his data to look at me. "Look…MAYBE I can work something out for you. But, you'd have to do something for me. I can give you another cut to hire one more person for your crew, BUT, -and here's the issue – you have to take another one off my hands. Don't worry, this one won't cost you a thing."

I didn't even have to ask him to explain, he stood and got himself another drink. One of his tells.

"Ah…you see, the other day, Nil, a….uh…girl I once spent a couple of days with, shows up at my bar, dragging along a kid behind her. She says the boy is mine. I don't see it, his lobes are way too small to by my son, but she claims she has proof. She says I have to take the boy and raise him properly, or she'll bring me before the Grand Magus for due compensation."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No, no, no…."

"Now, come on," Quark said come around the table. "He's not a bad kid, he's almost a legal adult by our reckoning, and he says he likes ships. What better than he get some experience on one of my freighters. And…somewhere away from me."

"You want us to babysit your son—"

"Just until he's a legal adult, and then you can kick him out because he won't be my responsibility any longer—"

"Sometimes I start to think you're an okay guy, then you do things like this –"

"Look, if you do this, I'll give you a higher share on your trips, AND you can have 2 extra crew."

I knew from the first moment I was going to take the boy, but I had to go through the steps.

Take an offer from a Ferengi without a fight, and you're likely to regret it, later. They have to know that you'll fight for everything.

"Damn it," I said. "Fine."


End file.
